Well, there is some truth to that but like everything else there are always exceptions. Yes, the interest rate and upfront cost are going to more expensive than your typical conventional loan. But if you consider that hard money loans might be one tool in your toolbox that will help expand your ability to purchase more properties or help you to buy properties without bringing in partners, it just might not be a bad idea.

Hard money loans can be used for buy and hold investors as well as fix and flip investors. Before jumping in, learn the ins and outs of hard money loans and see if they are right for you. Sign up for our free webinar on April 6th and you make the decision for yourself.

For those of you that have been impatiently waiting in agonizing pain for the progress on this Buy + Hold Flip, this is for you.  (Oh and, for those that are just the normal folk in the world that may have stumbled upon our blog) — Here we are at Day 3 of Pete’s Buy + Hold Rental Property Renovation. Let’s take a quick look back at all items on Pete’s To Do list for his home.

1. Tear off all wall paper
2. Paint the entire house, including ceilings, walls, baseboards and doors
3. Fix the garage
4. Put up a 6′ fence along one side of the house
5. Tear up carpet and put new carpet in the basement
6. Renovate all 3 bathrooms (new toilets, shower, vanities, replace floor in 1 bathroom, fixtures)
7. New fixtures and hardware throughout the home (door handles, hinges, light fixtures, faucets)
8. New kitchen stove
9. Clean up outside
10. Paint the shed in the backyard

His budget for all of this was $8,365. Stay tuned to find out how his budget turned out, the Dos and Don’ts for next time around and to see the finished product of this Rental Property Renovation.

Denver Metro Vacancy Rates

Denver Residential vacancy rates continue to drop.  The overall vacancy rate for the metro area for the fourth quarter of 2010 was 2.0 percent down from 2.9 percent in the third quarter.  Gordon Von Stroh, PH.D., of the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business released their vacancy report for the 4^th quarter of 2010.  Each quarter, Von Stroh surveys approximately 3,271 units in the seven county Denver Metro area.  The survey is limited to single family homes and small mutli-family properties of 1-4 units.

Boulder and Broomfield counties had the lowest vacancy rate of 0.0 percent and Adams county had the highest of 3.6 percent followed by Denver with 3.0 percent, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties 1.3 percent and Douglas county at .09 percent.

Average Days on Market

For the units that were vacant, the average days on the market was 38.2 a slight increase from 36.0 for the third quarter of 2010.  That average is down sharply from the fourth quarters of 2008 and 2009 which was 53.9 in 2009 and 45.4 days in 2008.

Average Rents

Average rents decreased to $1,029.82, down from the third quarter average of $1,041.05.  The average rents posted an increase from the fourth quarter of 2009 of $1,016.77 and the fourth quarter of 2008 of $995.24.  In 2006 which was the beginning of the housing crisis the average was $944.75.  That rate compared to the latest quarterly report represents an average increase of 9%.

What Does This Mean for Landlords and Tenants?

It would seem to me with the vacancy rate so low, tenants will not have the housing choices that they’ve perhaps enjoyed in the past.  With fewer vacancies to choose from, I would think that many tenants that would normally move at the end of their lease term may not move because they can’t find a replacement home.  So perhaps for the landlord, there may be less turnover.  With the demand up and the supply of rental homes down, it would stand to reason that rental rates should start increasing.

If you would like to receive a copy of the complete 52 page report, contact us and we’ll send you the report.

We’ve had a pretty big response and wanted to provide a closer look at exactly what happens after a Buy & Hold, Rental property if you will, purchase. Knowing how to renovate a property to get it rent ready can be a little intimidating. How much should I budget? What ALL needs to be repaired or replaced? Should I replace the dated stove, even if it still works? What does a $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 renovation look like?

Well, Dunn and Company’s very own broker, Peter Musser just purchased his now 8th Buy & Hold (Rental Property) in the Aurora, CO area. This is a 3 bedroom up, 1 bedroom down, 2.5 bath Single Family home. It’s a Ranch style home with a basement. Below are the projected projects including their budget. Throughout the 7 days, we will watch alongside Peter and he rips up carpet, demo’s a converted garage and makes this house go from junk to gem.

Day 1 – Buy & Hold Renovation

BUDGET

Now, we know from our last few webinars and from the vast amount of inquiries we’ve had, that many of you are dying to get out there and start investing. Some common questions we’ve heard are:

• What do you look for when searching for Buy + Hold properties?
• What happens AFTER the closing?
• What items do you choose to fix in a home, does everything need to be updated?
• What all needs to be done to get the property ‘Rent Ready’
• How much money do I need to spend on Fix-up costs?
• And more….

So, we have decided to give you just what you have been asking for, the answers. We are going to dissect the entire process from Identifying, Purchasing & Budgeting, to Leasing it to your first tenant.  This is a real life transaction that was purchased and leased out within the last 30 days by our very own broker and investor Peter Musser.

Join us for a lively discussion of the Do’s and Don’ts, how close or far off he was from his budget, how to turn an investment property from drab to fab with the least amount of work, time and money. And most importantly, he will show you how he used alternative financing to purchase this home, with very little money out of his pocket.

THIS IS NOT PIE IN THE SKY FOLKS, THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!

Whether you are a new investor or a seasoned investor, don’t miss out on this exciting webinar. Sign up Today!!

After pouring over figures, rates, and numbers; the Northern Colorado Business Report concludes that 2010 home sales in the region remained “mostly flat”.

Whether anyone needed them to tell us the whole story of the housing sector in 2010 is a different story.

Mostly everyone “on the ground” could have told you the exact same thing conclusively, months ago, without even looking at a graph. But, then again, we do like having numbers to “back us up”.

Dunn & Company has been fielding the calls and can tell you exactly what happened in 2010. Nearly everyone thought the tax-credit would be extended into perpetuity, and therefore waited until the deadline and tried to act quickly on the home they’ve “had their eye on”. Many times throwing caution to the wind and allowing the seller’s representative “represent the transaction” for them.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Habitat for Humanity building homes

Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) based in Reno, had this to say about the recent State of the Union address.

“As President Obama charts a course for the nation’s economic future, we all need to understand that housing must play a vital role to stimulate job and economic growth. Restoring the health of the housing industry is a crucial first step in bolstering job creation and leading the economy to higher ground.”

NAHB is a trade association representing more than 160,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, construction, property management, design, finance, and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. And is affiliated with 800 state and local HOAs across the nation, they will build about 80% of the new housing units this year.

“Now is not the time to abandon our government’s long-standing commitment to housing.” he says.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

Please take advantage of Dunn & Company’s free MLS access.

“The outlook for investors in 2011 is as positive as we have seen in years,” according to Joseph R. Dancy, Adjunct Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University.

Mr. Dancy has identified seven major trends it expects in 2011 that will bode well for investors nationwide:

●     Higher energy prices (coal, oil, natural gas)

●     Higher agricultural prices and food riots in developing countries

●     Russell 2000 small cap index reaches record levels

●     Stock selection and active portfolio management add substantial excess returns (versus passive investments in tracking ETF’s)

●     Real estate prices remain depressed

●     Investors slowly begin to return to the US stock market

●     Unemployment stays elevated and food stamp use reaches record levels

“Smaller companies are substantially outperforming the market. As the global economy continues to recover many of these companies represent some of the best investment opportunities we have seen in years,” concluded Dancy.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

CB Richard Ellis Group CEO Brett White says all commercial real estate indicators are “100 percent positive”.

Colorado Business Bank

The firm oversees billions of dollars of transactions a year and employs nearly 30,000 people in 425 offices and affiliates. He was recently interviewed in the Washington Post and painted a rosy picture that gels with recent moves we’ve seen locally.

He says “Vacancies have clearly peaked in almost every market and every asset class. Rental rates we believe now have troughed in nearly every market and every asset class.”

Which rings well in our investor clients’ ears, though many in the larger marketplace had expected a flood of distressed properties into the market that never came. White said “we never really saw a large influx of distressed assets hit the market at distressed pricing.”

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE

The Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology will be working with site selection experts in Denver to find a location for a proposed 200-acre manufacturing and research park.

The park could reportedly house up to 100 businesses and create 10,000 jobs, according to CAMT. The idea is that companies would share facilities for research and manufacturing. NASA has apparently developed technology that could be turned into products with commercial uses in clean energy industries to be manufactured at the facility.

Estimates by CAMT indicated that the proposed “Aerospace and Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Park” could create as much as $7 Billion per year in economic output for Colorado. Representing a welcome addition to community coffers and job-seekers alike.

In addition, a surprising rush of interest by many of the proposed backers may force a quicker move than most had anticipated. CAMT executive director Elaine Thorndike said more than a dozen out-of-state companies have inquired about locating to the park. In response, they have opened up from working exclusively with one developer to now working with many site selection experts because they “had more options and much greater interest than they had anticipated”.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE